Anita Kerr, a session soprano and vocal arranger whose Anita Kerr Singers released a staggering number of mellifluous albums under the group's own name and as backup singers during the 1960’s and’70s, when easy-listening took hold in homes and on FM radio, died on October 10. She was 94.
In addition to recording as a lead group, the Anita Kerr Singers recorded background vocals on dozens of albums by country stars and by "beautiful music" maestros such as Ray Conniff, Percy Faith and Bert Kaempfert. The singers were among the most prolific and influential vocal session groups of the post-war years and were based in Nashville, the crossroads of mainstream music in the 1960s and beyond.
In the tumultuous 1960s and gloomier '70s, the Anita Kerr Singers' pop albums became an oasis for older listeners baffled by rock and soul and put off by classical. This largely suburban demographic preferred pop vocals with a straightforward approach that was both relaxing and an audio respite from the gripes of their rebellious teenage kids and the specter of ever-mounting bills. In many ways, the Anita Kerr Singers were the vocal version of a mixed drink—music that acclimated the soul as it re-entered home space and took the work edge off and erased lingering crankiness.
I must confess, I've long been a closeted Anita Kerr Singers fan—not in awe of their penchant for mediocrity and sappy takes on contemporary hits but Kerr's gift for tight harmonies and vocal arrangements. As a fan of hard work, perfection and tight execution, I could hear that Kerr was a master of all three. On the right songs with the right instrumentation, the Anita Kerr Singers slipped into elegant territory without forfeiting their bland turf.
Long ridiculed by the youth culture of the 1960s, the Anita Kerr Singers' albums were viewed as the fount of sunshine pop and the sound of conformity. But it's too easy to dismiss the group as glorified jingle singers. Kerr's vocal arrangements had style and could reach levels of sophistication and beauty. Kerr and her groups—the quartet format grew to eight at times—also inspired many commercial vocal groups that followed, including Singers Unlimited, the Ray Conniff Singers, Sergio Mendes and the Brasil 66 and even the Carpenters' overdubbed stacks of choral vocals.
Here are 10 of my favorites by the Anita Kerr Singers:
Here's the theme to A Man and a Woman. Kerr's voice was always on top...
Here's Henry Mancini's Dreamsville...
Here's Henry Mancini's Mr. Lucky...
Here's Antonio Carlos Jobim and Jon Hendricks' One Note Samba...
Here's George Shearing's Lullaby of Birdland...
Here's Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight...
Here's Burt Bacharach and Hal David's A House Is Not a Home...
Here's Early Autumn...
Here's Tony Hatch's My Love...
And here's the Anita Kerr Signers' cover of Major Harris's hit Love Won't Let Me Wait. It shouldn't work but it does...
Bonus: The vocal sound that Anita Kerr was shooting for began early. Here she is in 1950...
Bonus2: Here's just one more, a gorgeous rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Alfie...
JazzWax note: Bill Friskics-Warren of The New York Times wrote a lovely obituary of Anita Kerr here.